Tel-Chai Nation

The government's considering imposing special quarantines on Haredi population centers where residents are acting in defiance of Coronavirus guidelines and lockdowns:

The government is considering placing the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak under quarantine, over its residents' defying of the nationwide curfew orders and the fear that the coronavirus outbreak could spiral out of control in the densely populated locality, where the infection rate is higher than the national average.

Finance Ministry Director Shai Babad told the Knesset on Sunday that "we are having more than a few problems with ultra-Orthodox society in areas like Bnei Brak."

Babad made the comment hours after hundreds of residents gathered for the burial of Rabbi Tzvi Shenkar, with thousands reportedly attending a funeral procession just before. Videos show hundreds gathering in close proximity to one another, breaking social-distancing directives.

Several clashes between residents and police attempting to enforce the lockdown have taken place in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in recent weeks.

The images sparked criticism of the police, who were accused of not enforcing the directives as vigorously as they do in secular cities.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said he "would not stand for it," and demanded the police exercise "determined and equal enforcement of Health Ministry orders throughout Israel, with no exceptions."

Bnei Brak is proving to be the worst hit area after Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, with cases building 8-fold every 3 days. Small apartment households of 10 people crowded togther carries the risks of entire families being infected. Whether it's extremist clans leading the way or just typical ultra-Orthodox ignoramuses, it's utterly offensive and is bound to prolong the difficulties. The Jerusalem Post says the regulations must be enforced equally on all:

Two videos emerged Saturday night that demonstrated the problems of enforcing regulations meant to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. In one, police cars can be seen chasing a solitary young cyclist in a Tel Aviv park; in the other, hundreds of members of the extreme ultra-Orthodox “Jerusalem Faction” were seen crowding together in Bnei Brak for the funeral of Rabbi Tzvi Shinker, head of the Beit David Yeshiva, with no action being taken by police to stop the gathering.

We do not dismiss the risks of even one person violating the regulations by taking a bike ride – one of the dangers being that it encourages others to similarly ignore the steps being imposed to halt the spread of this deadly disease – but we question where valuable police resources are being spent.

Regulations in force Saturday night clearly stipulated that gatherings of more than 10 people are not permitted – for prayers, weddings or funerals. If these regulations continue to be flouted, even by a minority, they will likely be made stricter for all.

Coronavirus can infect anyone and be easily passed on, particularly in crowds. Haredi communities – many of which do not have televisions, Internet, and in some cases, even radios – were at first slow to pick up on the news of COVID-19, its exponential growth and what it means. However, now that the pandemic has swept through ultra-Orthodox communities in the Diaspora, particularly in New York and New Jersey, rabbis and community leaders in Israel are certainly aware of the health issues.

The potential spread from the Bnei Brak funeral is frightening. It will sweep first through those communities where members are violating the regulations and precautions but will not stop there. It is precisely events like these that could result in the health system being overwhelmed – making all the steps and sacrifices made so far virtually meaningless.

Figures released last week by the Health Ministry show that almost a quarter of Israelis who have contracted the coronavirus in the country have been infected through contact with another infected individual in a synagogue. Another 5% contracted in yeshivas, 15% of infections were contracted in hotels, 12% in restaurants, 7% in supermarkets, and 7% in other shops. Hotels and restaurants have since closed.

The Jerusalem Faction is a minority, even among anti-Zionist zealots, and its adherents are known for public acts of civil disobedience. This makes policing harder but nonetheless essential. Police patrols in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood last week encountered violent resistance by ultra-Orthodox extremists. Police noted in a statement, however, that the majority of shops, food outlets and other businesses in the neighborhood were observing the social-distancing orders.

If they have to bring about riot squads and impose barricades to the neighborhood entrances, so be it. And if the Haredis want to complain that they're being persecuted by "nazis" as they slur anybody they don't agree with, they can cry us a river. But the police are going to have to stop cowering and start shutting down these gatherings seriously. Here's another commentary on how and why the Haredis didn't take the warnings seriously until now:

Of particular note was that the senior rabbinic leadership of the Ashkenazi, non-hassidic ultra-Orthodox community ruled that schools and yeshivas should remain open and never rescinded that order, although the school term has now ended.

It took till Sunday for the most senior leader of this community, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, to finally issue a clear ruling that the community must obey government orders aimed at stopping the deadly virus.

That Kanievsky made his comments shortly after data was released showing the highest rates of Covid-19 infections in the country are in cities with high ultra-Orthodox populations demonstrates how serious the consequences of this delay might turn out to be.

But why did it taken so long for the the community to take the epidemic and its dangers seriously?

One of the primary reasons is that the ultra-Orthodox community sees its rabbis as its true leaders and not the secular authorities or politicians.

“The ultra-Orthodox community does not see the state as representing its interests, you live with the state, it’s like your apartment building management council, but it doesn’t tell you what to do,” says Professor Yedidya Stern, vice president of the Israel Democracy Institute and an expert on ultra-Orthodox society.

When talking about issues critical to religious life like Torah study in schools and yeshivas, as well as prayer, “the ultra-Orthodox always see their senior rabbi as the prime minister,” he added. [...]

But it is not only the ultra-Orthodox leadership that lacks knowledge and appreciation of scientific fact, it is the general public itself.

Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, a frequent commentator on ultra-Orthodox society, notes that the community is in general “suspicious of scientific authority” and believes its rabbis are better guides.

Scientific disciplines are taught at almost no ultra-Orthodox elementary schools and not at all in high-schools, and there is a general lack of appreciation for scientific knowledge.

You know what this bears similarities to? Leftists in the US and UK, where you now have LGBT activists pushing the belief that "gender is a social construct", and not a biological/scientific one, along with the ludicrous notion that "homosexuality is genetic", which has been indoctrinated longer and is just as damaging. Don't be shocked if the leftist crowd in the States and the Blighty consider Haredi extremists who espouse anti-science views a crowd to appreciate in their books.

When government authorities are warning of an epidemic that has not yet struck in full and advising measures based on scientific understanding designed to ward off the future consequences of such an epidemic be taken, it was to be expected that the ultra-Orthodox community would dismiss this advice, says Slifkin.

But there are also other societal factors at play as well. One serious problem, raised by both Stern and Slifkin, is that ultra-Orthodox society is much less exposed to news media than the general public.

While many non ultra-Orthodox have a steady stream of push notifications, tweets, Facebook posts, and WhatsApp videos inundating their smart phones, the majority of the ultra-Orthodox community is not exposed to such a torrent of information.

This creates a far lesser sense of urgency amongst the community, since they do not see the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic in China, Italy, Spain and wherever else the disease has struck.

And there is also the very real problem of how exactly the community can go into physical lockdown like the rest of the country.

Ultra-Orthodox families are typically very large, their apartments are far smaller than their needs, and they do not have gardens and often not even balconies. [...]

It is this confluence of circumstances that led the ultra-Orthodox leadership and public to downplay and ignore the threat of the Covid-19 epidemic, even as the government was enforcing ever more drastic measures on the general public.

The results could yet be disastrous for the ultra-Orthodox sector in terms of the cost to human life and economically.

And if the ultra-Orthodox community suffers badly as a result, trust in its rabbinic leadership could be significantly damaged and may lead to far-reaching changes in the sector further down the line.

Well if this convinces more to leave the lifestyle, that'll be a blessing, mainly for them. Being informed is a Torah-advocated importance, and refusal to accept it says quite a bit about the insular Haredi communities with their discipline towards flesh-and-blood humans rather than towards God. Meanwhile, this report also notes how the Haredi communities detest efforts by authorities to keep things safe, and that the Arabic sector is also problematic for the same reasons:

Israeli police have used a drone, helicopter and stun grenades in recent days to prevent people gathering in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem in defiance of Health Ministry measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

On Monday, police, some in riot gear and surgical masks, encountered occasional resistance and verbal abuse while enforcing the measures in a part of the city whose residents have long chafed against the state.

"Nazis!" shouted a group of boys, as police pulled men off the narrow streets of Mea Shearim.

As well as broadcasting the message "Stay Home" from the helicopter and drone, police have issued offenders with fines.

Israeli officials describe the ultra-Orthodox as especially prone to contagion because their districts tend to be poor and congested, and in normal times they are accustomed to holding thrice-daily prayers with often large congregations.

Some of their rabbis have also cast doubt on the degree of coronavirus risk.

Many ultra-Orthodox reject the authority of the Israeli state, whose Jewish majority is mostly secular.

Israel's 21 percent Arab minority are another sensitive community, where officials say testing for the virus has been lagging.

"There are three 'Corona Countries' - the ultra-Orthodox sector, the Arab sector and the rest of the State of Israel," Defense Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters on Sunday.

This is certainly just as troubling, and if the Arabic sector also refuses to take proper health steps, they too are bound to prolong the problems we're facing now. This article says a few hotels are starting to set up quarantine housings for those infected:

Three hotels and yeshiva buildings were preparing Monday to open as special quarantine centers for the ultra-Orthodox community, as the government and religious authorities stepped up the fight against the spread of the coronavirus in densely populated Haredi areas.

Ultra-Orthodox patients make up around half the COVID-19 patients being treated in various major hospitals around the country, according to unofficial figures cited by the two leading Israeli news channels on Sunday evening.

The reports came amid officials’ growing impatience with the ultra-Orthodox community, some of whose members have appeared to flout government orders restricting public gatherings, movement and activities — imposed in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, which has so far infected upward of 4,000 Israelis.

Two hotels were being prepared to start housing ultra-Orthodox patients on Tuesday, with two more such hotels set to open at a later date, Channel 12 reported Monday morning.

The hotels will cater to that community’s needs, including food with strict kosher supervision and gender segregation.

Gee, I wonder why the latter is such a big deal when health itself is what truly matters? If they're smart, they'll worry about their physical health, not insulting religious beliefs, and they'd do well not to put their "customs" above their personal health.

In the end, let's hope the Haredi community clears the streets for a time and stops enabling the virus spread.

Update: as noted in this article, Haredi extremists have attacked medical officials as well.

Update 2: reportedly, the government's making an effort to remove the ill from closely confined living quarters in Bnei Brak.

Labels: communications, haredi corruption, islam, Israel, Israeli Arabs, Jerusalem, Judaism, Moonbattery, New York, United States